Local Sports

Clippers run wild on Indians

SALINEVILLE - Both the Columbiana Clippers and Southern Indians like to run the ball. So, when the two teams met on Friday night, the contest was guaranteed to be a battle over who could control the line of scrimmage.

The Clippers won that battle of the trenches convincingly, and also won the game 52-6 in a contest that the Clippers pounced on every Indian miscue. The Clippers took advantage of an Indians fumble and two errant snaps on punts to score two touchdowns and a safety to build a 39-6 halftime advantage.

"We were trying to find an identity," Clippers coach Bob Spaite said. "If we are capable of running the ball, we are a pretty good football team. We have three running backs that we are pretty confident about."

The Clippers’ stable of senior running backs led the way in the contest, with Danny Mangiarelli racking up 105 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns while Jensen Nordquist rushed for 111 yards on nine carries and Devin Brode added 91 yards and three touchdowns to pace the Clippers. The Clippers tallied 324 yards on the ground.

With the victory, the Clippers bounced back from two consecutive losses and improved to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 in the EOAC.

"We had two really tough weeks. We played two really, really physical teams in United and Woodmore, and I give them all the credit in the world. They were definitely the better teams on that night," Spaite said. "We learned, and we stayed together. It's the second half of the season, and we have to figure out what we want to do."

"It was very important for us to bounce back and show who we are in the EOAC," Mangiarelli said. "This week we really bounced back with a great win."

However, the Indians seized early momentum when freshman cornerback Ronnie Johnson stepped in front of a Clippers receiver and delivered a pick-six on just the third play of the game. That gave the Indians a quick 6-0 lead just 54 seconds into the contest.

"We needed to make something happen, and our freshman corner stepped up and made a good play and put us up six to nothing," Indians coach Jimmy Malone said. "Our guys gave everything they had. That is a tough Columbiana football team."

But from there, the snowball started rolling for the Clippers, and the Indians were not able to stop the avalanche. The Clippers scored on their next two possessions, as Mangiarelli scored on a 10-yard run at the 6:02 mark of the first quarter, followed by a 3-yard run by Brode three minutes later, set up by an Indians fumble. That provided the Clippers with a 14-6 advantage.

The Indians defense came up with a big fumble recovery at their own 1-yard line at the 10:23 mark of the second quarter, but that quickly turned into a disaster when the Clippers forced a safety and a 16-6 lead at the 9:32 mark.

When the Indians suffered a bad snap over the punter’s head at the conclusion of their next drive, the Clippers scored on a 4-yard run by Brode on the next play making it 23-6. A 52-yard run by Brode, another errant snap over the punter for a safety, and a 20-yard pass from quarterback Hayes McCoy to Brode provided the Clippers with a commanding 39-6 lead at the intermission.

"Special teams hurt us," Malone said. "A couple snaps over our (punter’s) head. Those are things that we can clean up. We had a new snapper this week, so that kind of hurt us."

The Clippers added two more touchdowns in the second half as Mangiarelli scored on a 15-yard run at the 6:30 mark of a running clock. Aiden Quintus added a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring in the contest.
With the loss, the Indians fall to 1-5 on the season and 1-2 in the league. It also marks consecutive seasons that the Indians have come up short against the Clippers following a seven-year winning streak.


"We need to play together. We need to play as a family," Malone said. "We need to put four quarters of football together. I believe that we haven't done that yet. It's coming, we are on the edge."
The Clippers will look to keep their momentum going next Friday when they host Valley Christian. The Indians will play next Saturday when they travel to Steubenville Catholic Central in a non-conference game.



C: 14-25-7-6--52

S : 6- 0-0-0-- 6

SCORING

S - Ronnie Johnson 45 interception return (kick failed)

C - Danny Mangiarelli 10 run (Geoffrey Malcomson kick)

C - Devin Brode 3 run (Malcomson kick)
C - Safety, runner tackled in end zone
C - Brode 4 run (Malcomson kick)
C - Brode 52 run (Malcomson kick)
C - Safety, punter tackled in end zone
C - Brode 20 pass from Hayes McCoy (Malcomson kick)
C - Mangiarelli 15 run (Malcomson kick)
C - Aiden Quintus 2 run (run failed)


TEAM STATS

COLUMBIANA

First downs: 17; Total yards: 388; Rushes-yards: 37-324, Passing: 64; Comp-Att-Int. 5-8-1; Punts 0-0; Fumbles-Lost 1-1; Penalties-Yards 4-35.

SOUTHERN

First downs: 1, Total yards: 24, Rushes-yards: 17-15, Passing: 9; Comp-Att-Int. 4-10-0; Punts 3-25; Fumbles-Lost 4-2; Penalties-Yards 13-35.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING--Columbiana, Jenson Nordquist 9-111, Danny Mangiarelli 15-105, Devin Brode 6-91; Southern, Logan Mettenberger 8-19.

PASSING--Columbiana, Hayes McCoy 5-8-1; Southern, Jack Pitts 4-10-0.

RECEIVING--Columbiana, Devin Brode 3-50, Jenson Nordquist 1-11; Southern, Logan Mettenberger 2-7.

INTERCEPTIONS--Southern, Ronnie Johnson.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES--Columbiana, Jenson Nordquist; Southern, David Kennedy.